Category: Announcements

I’m competing in today’s March Madness bracket over at Free Money Finance. This is a big competition which results in money being donated to the winner’s charity – I choose the American diabetes association (it had to be an American charity).
If you want to vote then go over and leave a comment with “trust” – you can also vote in the other bracket for the Financial Blogger (comment with “banks”) – see the post for details.

Note – I’m still losing but it’s close so your vote will count.  Voting ends early on Wednesday morning.

I’m competing in today’s March Madness bracket over at Free Money Finance. This is a big competition which results in money being donated to the winner’s charity – I choose the American diabetes association (it had to be an American charity).
If you want to vote then go over and leave a comment with “trust” – you can also vote in the other bracket for the Financial Blogger (comment with “banks”) – see the post for details.

Busy times – I hosted the carnival of personal finance on Monday which contained 98 entries.  The theme was learn the basics of investing.  And the funny thing is that I’m hosting it again – 2 weeks later on my other blog – the ABCs of Investing.  If you are a blogger then make sure you get your picks in for that carnival nice and early – I really, really hate late submissions ie enter by Sat, Apr 4 at the latest.

Posts of the week

Being Frugal had a guest post (which I wrote) about the very basics of asset allocation.

The Wisdom Journal is rethinking the American Dream.

Cash Money Life says I hate doing taxes.  Join the club Patrick!

The Financial Highway talks about the pros and cons of leveraging.

PT Money had an interesting post on borrowing from your 401k – making the best of a bad situation.

The rest of the links

Canadian Capitalist concluded his 19 part series on Derek Foster with a book review of Money for Nothing.

Financial Blogger explains why you shouldn’t do market timing.

ABCs of Investing explains how interest rates affect bond prices as well as online discount brokerages.

The Oblivious Investor wrote about target retirement funds.

Money Ning reminds says there is an impending retirement crisis.

Good Financial Cents is wondering if the markets beginning to thaw?

The Consumer Boomer explains how to tap your 401k without penalty.

The Intelligent Speculator wonders if the market is on steroids.

Investing School discusses diversification across different asset classes.

Million Dollar Journey wrote about the purpose of money.

Bible Money Matters answers the question – when will we see the stimulus package paycheck increase?

Moolanomy explains Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps to financial freedom.

I’m competing in a blogger competition and I need your vote!  Head on over to Free Money Finance and leave a comment with the word “trust”.  The winner of the competition gets $500 donated to their favourite charity.  I picked the American Diabetes Association.  I would have picked the Canuck one but it had to be a US one.

A couple of links:

Finance Freelance Life wrote an excellent post which reminds us that peer-2-peer lending is no substitute for a savings account.

David Olive from the Toronto Star wonders is Warren Buffett the next Bill Miller? Bill Miller is a mutual fund manager who had a great run but has done horrible in the last few years.  A very good article – quite critical of Buffett.

Million Dollar Journey says it’s a great time to buy a new house.

The Financial Blogger needs to blog less and eat less and exercise some more!

It was Derek Foster week over at Canadian Capitalist – check out what went wrong with the Derek Foster strategy?

Carnival of personal finance was held at Green Panda Finance – she had an “independent music” theme so check it out.

Million Dollar Journey discusses the bailout in The Great Homeowner Bailout.

Preet tells us to look at Sales Incentives for Financial Planners and Insurance Salespeople.

Financial Blogger talks about how Being Your Own boss is So Exciting.

The Oblivious Investor explains Why the Stock Market is Unpredictable.

Money Ning gives us 7 Money Saving Tips to Get a New Look Kitchen For Less.

Good Financial Cents plans how to teach kids money management.

Blunt Money compares renting vs. buying.

Canadian Capitalist discusses Derek Foster’s Change of Pace.

The Intelligent Speculator wonders if the devil is playing the market.

Investing School explains Treasury Securities.

ABCs of Investing wrote about the Buying ETFs and Stocks – Limit Orders and the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Carnivals

The Carnival of Financial Planning was hosted at The Skilled Investor.
Free Money Finance hosted The Carnival of Personal Finance.

Rough week in Pillar land – family stomach flu and hosting problems which resulted in switching the blog to a new host.  I’ll be posting the details on Monday (about the hosting change – not the flu!).

Here are a few posts that I read this week:

I thought this post on what you should do when job hunting was simply brilliant. I really liked the advice about keeping yourself “employed” (or what appears to be employed on paper) when you are not.  I found out about Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist blog after seeing repeated links from Brip Blap who is always a great read.  Both blogs are very worthwhile.

Ron from the Wisdom Journal explains how he and his wife paid off $120,000 in debt in 52 months.  Keep in mind that 52 months is over 4 years so we’re not talking about a short-term effort here.  Congrats to Ron and I’m sure he can’t help but wonder what things would be like if they had not accrued that much debt in the first place.

One of my favourite topics lately is the car companies – Ken Lewenza, the head of the CAW insists that he can maintain his members’ existing wage and benefits packages.  While I understand that the CAW is negotiating and no union should agree to major cutbacks just because a company is in a short-term down period – I think in this case the only way Mr. Lewenza can keep his ridiculous promise would be to somehow buy all the car companies himself.  Of course in that case he would probably lose his union job.

Moolanomy has a regular feature called Ask Larry Swedroe who is a very good investing expert.  This weeks question was “Should you own individual stocks” – I’ve read a lot of answers to this common question before but I thought Larry’s answer was very good.

And last, but certainly not least – Plonkee Money – a very worthwhile read – wrote a post about the magic money cupboard.  This post really illustrates a common opinion that most financial companies have some “secret” money management skills that somehow allow them to earn above average investment returns.  If they do, they certainly keep those excess profits close to home.

The weight

I was brave this week and weighed myself – 182.5 which is down a bit from the last couple of weigh-ins.  I need to keep working at it however.  I’ve been doing a lot of running lately (3-4 times per week) so I’m doing very well on the exercise side but the diet needs a bit more discipline (as always).

The links

Moolanomy wrote a very entertaining post about a bad car buying experience – all I can say is that I’m glad he ended up walking away from those crooks!

The Wisdom Journal says you should stick your strengths.  Excellent post.

Canadian Capitalist warns us about The Danger in Chasing Yield. Good thing I’ve never done that!!

Michael James discusses the Canadian Auto Bailout. Like me, he doesn’t think it’s a great idea.

Financial Blogger has an interesting take on predictions in The Danger of Rationality.

The Oblivious Investor asks Have You Run the Numbers?

Million Dollar Journey talks about Holding a Mortgage Within an RRSP. Sounds like too much hassle.

Money Ning challenges us with What Would Happen If You Plan and Budget for All Spending?

Good Financial Cents asks Are You Vested?

The Consumer Boomer follows up on his rant about a certain credit card company.

Blunt Money tells us that Fear is a Stronger Motivator than Greed.

Preet discovers How the Pros are Investing Their Money.

The Intelligent Speculator looks at When Investing Becomes a Big Giant Gamble.

Investing School gives us The First Guide on dividend Yields.

ABCs of Investing wrote about  Taxable Vs Non-Taxable Investment Accounts and Market Orders.

Carnivals

Carnival of personal finance was held at Broke Grad Student.

The Skilled Investor hosted the Carnival of Financial Planning.